Long Live The Wolf
by TheGreatStag
Summary: After the Dance Of Dragons, Cregan Stark Warden of the North has assisted Rhaenyra Targaryen cause and won the war alongside them. But after being denied what was his, the breaking of the Pact of Ice and Fire. Cregan does something, that will change Westeros forever. Major AU. Comments and criticisms welcome. Discontinued. Rewrite in Progress
1. The Broken Pact

**Cregan Stark - Late 131 AC**

It was unfair and a complete betrayal of the pact. He grounded his teeth in anger at the thought of it as he walked. He agreed to fight for Rhaenyra if they gave him a princess for Rickon, had he not done his part of the agreement? And instead of being given what was due he was given pretty words by a boy-king instead.

A boy-king that wouldn't even be sitting on the Iron Throne if not Roderick Dustin and good men like him had fought and died. He thought of their widowed wives and fatherless sons. He thought of his newborn Rickon, and the war he had fought to get him a princess for a wife.

He would demand more than just pretty words from the child king. He had planned to further expand ties between the north and the rest of Westeros but that plan was obviously a dead end.

He now planned to take the route of his forefathers and planned to improve the north to a standard and level never thought before. And keep the southerners as far away from their affairs as possible. He needed a lot of money though to start it off though and he had some ideas of where to get it...

With that thought, he decided on his next course of action. As of now, he was Hand of the King, a position that he knew he couldn't and wouldn't hold for more than month and so he had been using it to kill the remnants of the greens that had been left over after the war He had also sent a fair number of them to Wall for a slow death.

Larys Strong and Corlys Velaryon, a crippled craven and a rich old bastard. He knew they were the ones that had poisoned the previous Aegon and for that alone they needed to die. He had respected Aegon the Elder as he was being called, for simply being an honorable opponent. He knocked on the door before him and waited for it to open.

"My Lord Hand, what brings you to the chambers of the King?" Aegon looked at me curiously, the boy probably thought that he wanted to kill more people. The fool. The northern lord looked at boy with a neutral expression, "your grace, I have decided on the compensation that would be most agreeable for House Stark and the north as a whole."

The sad creature they called king sighed as if the weight of the world rested upon his shoulders, "My lord, once more I must apologize for the breaking the pact that my brother had agreed upon without my consent I must add." The wolf-lord smiled coldly "All the same a payment is due." "Payment?" Aegon frowned.

"Aye, I have been looking the various keeps and whatnot, and seeing just how backwards and far behind the north is compared to the rest of the Seven Kingdoms." Saying those words was like acid to him but they served a greater purpose.

Seeing the boys pondering of those words he continued, the sweet words flowing from him with ease "-of course, the knowing that the our new King is not only generous to those who are loyal to him but also wanting to better the lives of all of his people." The boy was hooked to his every word "-I also believed that this would be a good start of a relationship between the north and the Iron Throne, your majesty."

Aegon's eyes seem to light up at the praise and with that Cregan knows that he'll get what he wants. The boy's words confirm it "You're right, take as much as you need. A stronger north means a stronger Westeros." Aegon looks proud as if he had just thought of it alone. Cregan bows deeply and leaves the room quickly.

As he walk to his chambers to meet with his bannermen; Torrhen Manderly and Jonos Cassel. He thinks on what to do, they had the King's permission but if they were caught by any of the other lords then it would be over before it truly started. He began to think on the plan of action and how to ensure that they got as much gold as possible. By the time he entered his chambers he thought up a solid plan of action.

"My lords I must thank you for waiting, the conversation I've just had with the King has been most interesting." Torrhen spoke first, he was youngest of those assembled only two and twenty. He hadn't picked up the fat that Manderlys usually got quite yet but he definitely had their cunning and intelligence. "It's alright my lord, has the King decided to change his mind and fulfill the pact?"

Cassel smirked and said "Of course not, else we'd already be on the way to Winterfell with the princess in tow." Jonos was a soldier loyal to House Stark, and had saved his life more than once. We all shared a chuckle at that. "No, instead we got all the gold in the Crown's coffers." Torrhen looked at me interested his eyes widened slightly, "How did you get that?"

"Don't worry about that lad, I have jobs for you. Torrhen prepare a fleet to transport our men and the gold out of the capital. Tell them it's a direct order from the King if they make a fuss. Jonos get all of our men, have them begin transporting the all gold they can out of the coffers use whatever you can to move as much gold from the coffers to the boats. Be quiet as you can about this, should the wrong people find out we could be completely fucked. We have only days to get this done."

 **Torrhen Manderly**

It had taken three days till they were ready to leave the shit-hole of city but when they were they had left immediately. The loot had filled the cargo holds of five large transports and was far more than they had thought. "Say what you want about the Targaryens, they knew how to collect money" he remembered his lord saying at the time.

Torrhen had ordered the fleet to keep as close to land as possible all as not only ensure that they could beach the ships should any kind of hull rupture occur but also to not tempt any pirates or raiders. He snorted at the thought being attacked, as they not only had to five armed transports filled with the loot, but also two transports more with their remaining men whom had marched south with them and ten warships who's captains he had persuaded, threatened and bribed to come with them. He had estimated that the entire journey would take little over a month if no delays were made.

They had already made it past the shit-stained Gulltown, and docked at the Arryn port, to restock on foods and supplies. He had preferred Gulltown to Kingslanding simply due to the smells, but nothing short of the Seven Heavens could beat White Harbour. He had sent a raven to his pale home, telling them to prepare the docks for their arrival while they were there. He thought of his home,his family and his friends. He thought of his betrothed Jeyne Hornwood; a small fragile thing, wide enough hips to hear him good sons and pretty enough that he wouldn't feel the need to stab his eyes out before the bedding.

He thought of the other betrothed woman on the ship with him, Black Alys. He smiled at the name, remembering back to only weeks ago to the battle of the Kingswood. His smile died, as he remembered the screams, the blood and the deaths.

He was grateful to the woman for without her archers, hundreds men more would have died at the swords and lances of the Baratheon's knights. The woman had proven herself deadly and her beauty was no small thing, he was almost jealous of his lord for getting himself a such beauty with fine curves, a beautiful face and not-so-modest bosom.

Torrhen consciously stopped thinking about the soon to be wife of his liege for he knew nothing good would come out of it. He went back to thinking of what else life had in store for him, he knew that Stark had plans for the entirety of the north, great plans that he hoped would have a role for him. He looked around, trying to see if they were any landmarks that could easily discern their position. He spotted an some distant islands, that could have been only one thing.

He went to chambers of Stark, knocked and entered "My lord, the Three Sisters lay just ahead. I believe that we should be within sight of White Harbour before the week's end." "Good, when we get to land cart the gold to Winterfell and keep the ships."

Torrhen frowned, "Why my lord? White Harbour has no fleet. It'd be cheaper to scuttle these ships and spare the cost." "Not anymore lad, now I'm planning great fleets for the north on both the Shivering and Sunset Sea." the glint in the man's eyes scared and excited him.

This was news to Torrhen not terrible news mind you, but it was still a scary prospect as the Starks or Manderlys for that matter hadn't been a naval power since Bran the Burner. But he still accepted it all the same. Although that last part didn't sit well with him as he didn't know of any houses on the western shore that were powerful enough to hold a fleet.

Still he gave his support as he was a loyal bannerman "Aye, my lord such changes can only be good for the north", Torrhen agreed with his lord and dismissed himself from the Stark's chambers. The man left once more to think on his lonesome, but now he thought of himself as an admiral of a mighty armada; a shining silver trident at his side and his sons as captains of their own ships. He wondered if such a future would come to pass and how far the north would change under a man such as Cregan Stark.


	2. The Great Charter

**Royce Bolton - Late 131 AC**

He and his party rode through the raging snowstorm of whose power hadn't been seen in an age, was succeeding in making the northern countryside a little more white and the lives of all the people who lived in and around Winterfell, an icy hell. He had thought that the Old Gods were either punishing the Starks and their smallfolk or heralding the events that would come. He didn't want to think on how that made him shiver in fear.

He thought back to a day previous when he had received the raven summoning him to the Stark fortress. It simply said ' _Your Warden summons you to Winterfell immediately, attendance is compulsory. Deny me at your peril.'_ He didn't need any kind of trouble from Starks and he certainly didn't feel like challenging the power of Winterfell. Not now anyway.

It certainly got his attention and knowing that Cregan Stark was not the kind of man that wouldn't fulfill his promises and threats. He gathered a guard of five light horsemen and ten heavy horsemen and left the Dreadfort with all haste. As he fought the elements he thought of his children; Rodgar his heir, a little by more savage than most and rough around the edges but he would prove a fine Lord Of the Dreadfort when the time would call for it, his twins Myrielle and Arianna both of them were beautiful and made him more proud than he could ever say.

By the time he had reached the northern capital, majority of the northern lords were not there. He was content to wait for their arrival, as he believed it wouldn't be long till they came and not only that he needed time to come up with a way strengthen his own house through marriages and alliances.

There was no better opportunities do so with all the highlords of the north assembled. An hour later, the only lords that were remaining were the Reed and Flints of the Neck, the Magnars of Skagos and Umbers of the Last Hearth. He put their lateness down to a combination of bad weather and distance.

The lords that had assembled were mostly meandering about just talking, eating or enjoying the sights of Winterfell. Lords Manderly and Hornwoods talked to each other quietly and from the foolish smiles they had it was probably just minor topics that didn't involve him. The mountain clans did everything loudly from eating, to drinking even when they bloody whispered he could hear them from across the hall. Stark still had to make himself shown, as he had been here for the better part of the day and yet he seen with neither hide nor hair of the man.

By morn of the following day all of the lords north of the neck had arrived and had been told to congregate in one of the larger chambers beneath the Great Keep. When he arrived there he saw a Painted Table made of weirwood and ironwood.

Royce had heard of the Painted Table that lay within Dragonstone which was famously used by the first Aegon when he planned to conquer Westeros. He couldn't tell whether if the monstrosity of wood that lay before was a good imitation or not due to the lack of knowledge. Royce further wondered if this was the table that the Kings of Winter had used to conquer the North millennium ago. There were banners and markers to show where the different keeps where with the house which was lord or master of it.

The chamber itself was unremarkable; it had torches on either side that gave it an amber glow, the walls were uncannily smooth and seemed to be carved from stone. The doors were large but plain and around the Painted Table were ironwood thrones that would fit even the largest Umber. As most lords took their seats around the Painted Table, they finally took saw their missing host and liege.

Cregan Stark sat on a throne of weirwood at the head of the table which ended abruptly at the Wall; his own seat was eerily reminiscent of the Winter Seat that served as the throne of dozen Stark kings before him within the Great Hall. He didn't look or even acknowledge that his lords were waiting for him. He simply gazed down at the table focusing intensely on the North, the seas that bordered it and the Wall which was north of it ironically.

When his Warden finally looked upon them, his look was cold and victorious. His voice was grand and his tone was proud; "my lords, welcome to Winterfell and please forgive me for being lackluster in host skills." A murmur of acceptance went up through the room. Bolton snorted at that inwardly at as he thought that Stark could have called their daughter's whores and their sons craven and they'd still have loved him all the same. "My lords as you know, winter has ended and with it the Dance of Dragons. We supported Princess Rhaenyra in the hopes that should, no _when_ we win, we would be given a Targaryen princess as Lady of Winterfell. Which would in turn unite us with our southern brethren and immensely strengthen the North in such a way that hadn't been seen before" at this point Cregan's voice was uplifting and hopeful, his face in a smile that warmed the room far more than the torches ever could.

It was gone quicker than any could expect as the smile, fell into a scowl and the hope turned into an anger that scared him. That kind of anger in a Stark usually led to a legendary war that lasted an age and would kill a generation.

"But of course we are quickly reminded of the lack of honor all southrons have and our _gracious_ king went back on his deal. He has shown himself to be a dishonourable man and an enemy of the North, for how can you trust a king that doesn't keep his word." the words are vicious, rebellious and the wrong company it would be cause for execution. Although if any the words spoken here were heard by the king, the accusation would be denied by most lords of the north; Royce thought to himself.

Stark continues; his voice calm and quiet just barely loud enough to be heard, it reminded Royce of the calm before the storm and filled with a conviction; "My lords, I have ignored this slight as the king as seen it right to compensate us." This didn't surprise him as it did all the other lords assembled, as shown by their gasps and murmurs as if they were small-minded hens. It satisfied him as they finally got to the topic that was so great that it demanded the attention of highlords such as him. Stark didn't waited for his vassals to once more regain silence, and carried on the next part of this... meeting as it would be called.

He crouched down to lift something beneath the Painted Table, it required the strength of two arms and when he lifted it there was a grunt of effort. It landed with a thump that quickly stole the attention of all those who were still whispering to one another. It looked to be a strong chest with iron lock, the sort of which that promised to have some kind of valuable within and almost attracted pirates like moths to the flame.

Stark open the lock while his audience looked on expectantly each of them wondering what it could be; Valyrian steel weapons so plentiful that every lord could wield one, more gold than a man could spend in a hundred lifetimes, a crown perhaps symbolizing independence from the Iron Throne? The last one was a fool's fancy as the Targaryen would rather jump into the Blackwater from Dragonstone before they allowed a kingdom independence. But the previous though were possible.

Their eyes stared at the chest with a hunger that would terrify a newlywed wife before the bedding. The chest was unlocked and pushed forward, the gold within flowed out as if it common water, and not the lifeblood of empires. The chest must have been bigger on the inside as overflowed the north, went as far as Seaguard and spilled over the sides each tiny ting of a gold coin falling was more valuable than the lives of the a hundred smallfolk that could have lived off it.

"My lords, for too long have we simply sat back and let others decide who sit upon the Iron Throne, for too long have we allowed the southrons to believe them our betters!" Stark's voice was thunderous, his words would shake the hearts of men and rally all men his cause which had not made himself evident. "Sons of the north, rise with me into a golden age that will last longer than any other before it! Victory is our destiny so long as I command, now who is with me?!"

"We are with you!", "Command us!" their cries were endless and the same they demanded a goal, a plan to aim this new found fire within them. Even he would fight under the direwolf banner till the bitter end. "With this gold _loving_ gifted to us by the Targaryens, we improve our lands, our keeps, our very selves till none would dare challenge us!" A roar came forth to answer him.

"Lords Magnar and Manderly begin build warships and navies for the new Winter's Armada, gold will be of no importance for us. Make them no larger than fifty." While Manderly looked jubilant at the opportunity of a navy, Magnar was not nearly as excited, "My liege, Skagos was banned use of any kind of warships by your ancestor when we bent the knee to Winter eons ago can I believe that such a ban is over?" his voice was full of cautious hope. "Yes. Qhor begin the construction immediately and if you need to also spend some coin on the improvement of ports also spread this news with the rest of the lords of Skagos. Impress me and I shall give you more power than the rest of the Skagosi lords and make you the Lord of the Bay of Seals", the Lord of Kingshouse was content with the answer and leaned back onto his throne.

"Lords Woolfield, Locke, Ryswell and Flints of Widow's Watch and Flint's Finger after this meeting ends you will be given charters and enough gold to build and expand port towns and even cities should you wish it on the Shivering Sea, the Blazewater and Bite. You can build small fleets of no greater than ten ships to protect your ports." The lords mentioned were pleased to increase their strength in such a way especially in the terms of a navy, although Royce pondered exactly how much money the Starks were given and what kind of mad king would give such gold freely.

"Lord Mormont, you will be made Lord of the Bay of Ice. With this you will immediately begin doubling fishing and whaling expeditions in the Sunset Sea, Bear Island will become the centre of all northern trade in that region. Expand however you see fit and your navy will be no greater twenty." This was a complete change for House Mormont, as previously they were mainly known for female warriors they could now potentially be one the richest northern houses alongside House Manderly.

"Lords Karstark and Bolton, you will build port-towns on the Bay of Seals and the Weeping Water respectively. If you are able build fleets of no larger than five-". Royce couldn't hold his tongue any longer and was forced to interject; "My lord, I am forced to ask why? I and Karstark are stronger upon land that we are on the sea; these ports will only place needless expenses on us that we don't need as neither of us trade." "It's is better to have a fleet and not need it than need a fleet and not to have it, and as for trade; just wait I'll get onto that soon. Royce acquiesced with Stark's answer and merely waited for when they would get onto trade.

"As for myself, I shall turn Wintertown into a permanent city through all seasons that will serve as the heart and capital of our great nation. The specifics of the city would bore you and I shall not go into it. As for the planned towns and ports that we intend to build, they shall receive a period of grace where in a period of five years after their completion they shall pay no tax, this is intended to invite as many people to our towns and cities as possible."

This was a stroke of genius as it not only invite commoners by the thousands to live the towns, it made the lords that had thought about dragging their heels in following his orders do them twice as quickly.

"As Lord Bolton made clear, what is the point in ports and fleets if there nothing to export? For this reason, I have sent more than two thousands of my own men led by my cousins Benjen, Brandon and Elric to perform a complete geographic survey of the North." Sensible thought Bolton

"They have been tasked to chart and examine the north; dig up the hills and mountains, grade the rivers and lakes. Their aim will be see what minerals we can export in the north. They will have a time period of the three years to complete this task and once they we are aware of the mineral resources we will begin mining and exporting."

This made sense to Royce and no doubt many other lords as by the time the survey would be done and the mines and quarries completed they would be able to immediately begin exporting the minerals through the newly built ports. Although he wondered; Winterfell was in the centre of the North and had no nearby rivers to build a port, the Starks wouldn't be nearly as rich as any of the Houses that had one how could they maintain their position as Lord Paramount without the gold that other houses would gain?

"Finally, with whatever remaining coinage we would have remaining alongside the gold of Winterfell. The keeps of Moat Cailin and the Wolf's Den will be rebuilt and given to loyal lords of my choosing." Royce knew those words to be a farce; Stark would most likely give those keeps to his kin and have them marry a Manderly and Reed respectively.

While the rebuilding of the Wolf's Den didn't bother him at all, the rebuilding of the Moat did. The Starks had only ever threatened to rebuild the Moat to scare or discourage any southrons from invading the north, to actually build the damn thing spoke volumes of how Stark felt and the man felt threatened, scared even. Royce could work with that and manipulate it to his own needs.

"With the gold of Winterfell, I'd also intend to create a task-force that would defend the north from both threats internal and external; Roddy Dustin showed me how effective a small group of skilled men can change a war. To ensure that future generations remember his sacrifice, I will fund a standing army of the North, a force forever ready to fight and die in service to this proud land!" This received unanimous support for the task-force and many lords offered their sons to join this force, even he agreed with it as the task-force would give his son an outlet for his more violent tendencies.

Stark looked at him with a smile on his face its intent was discernible; "Bolton and Stark are the greatest Houses of the north with wars that will be forever remembered in history. When our strength joined together, we threw back the Andals and crushed the Valemen with ease. My lord let us join Houses, have one of daughters marry my only son. If it would please you I would be happy having him fostering at the Dreadfort once he comes of age. What say you?"

This was better than any deal he could have made, his daughter as Lady of Winterfell and his grandchildren as future Wardens of the North. The fact that he would be allowed to foster the child made it simply too sweet to deny. "It would be an honour onto both myself and my house." Stark would have his undying allegiance.

 **Cregan Stark**

It hurt him to give his son a Bolton for a wife but he was certain that it would benefit House Stark considerably. After all every great lord needed a mad dog, and which was dog was madder than a Bolton?

 **AN**

 **I'd like to say thanks for everyone who favourited and followed especially to all those who reviewed. I will try to make an update every four days. But please be patient should I fall behind. Massive shout-out to VVSINGOFTHECROSS for inspiring me to write. And once more thank you all.**


	3. New King, New Titles, New Armies

**Torrhen Manderly - 132 AC**

He had never hated the cold more than this moment. Before him lay the reason why; the cold corpses of his father and elder brother. They had died, from the cold of winter fever. He had learned about their deaths only a week ago when he jumped on his fastest ship and sailed as fast he could back home. He has arrived just in time to witness their burial, those that were there were close family, Lord Edgar Hornwood with his family, their closest captains and Lord Cregan Stark.

He mourned his father Deveron and his brother Medrick for a week, remembering all the good times of their youth and lamenting the times they fought or were apart. He gave a countless prayers to the Stranger and Crone in the Sept of Snow, begging for only warmth and sweetness for their souls in the next life. His pride would never allow for such a debasement of himself in such a public viewing. He tried to talk with some other of members of his family but were they too consumed with their own mourning.

He consulted with Maester Godwin at the New Castle; he was bored and need somebody of intellect that wasn't crying their eyes out. The conversation with the Maester was short but it was extremely revealing. He had learnt of his new status as Lord of the White Harbour, the current situation of the 'White Fleet' as it was being called.

Torrhen had no want to stay in White Harbour for the rest of his life and so quickly went about looking for a castellan he could trust to look after his home. He didn't hate White Harbour, but felt he was better needed in King's Landing to manipu- no, look after the King.

The entirety of his close family were too busy adding to water volume of White Knife and made themselves evident of being completely useless. He didn't trust most of the captains at the port to not usurp his house and make themselves lords of White Harbour no matter how short lived it would be.

His best bet would be to have on one of his extended family; cousins, uncles and the sort. After interviewing all the ones that would be found on short notice he found that; some of them were too grasping, some were simply inefficient but after a week of sifting through the shit he found a man that he could trust with the position.

Bartimus Manderly, a son of captain and a very minor Manderly both of whom were dead. He had no children or wife mainly keeping to whores, this to Torrhen meant that he wouldn't try better his family by usurping him. He was experienced at sea, and knew ships like the back of his hand.

He had been the one to captain the ship to take Medrick and his men back home. He said had sailed beneath the mighty stone pillars that served as legs for the Titan of Braavos, sneaked behind the ominous Black Walls of Volantis and even dared to slip through the Smoking Sea, to witness the ruins of Old Valyria.

Torrhen very much doubted most of this but the man was still an experienced captain and seemed able to command the Tridents (city guard) who would be essential to ensure the keeping of the King's Peace while the city expansions and fleet would be constructed. As for managing the normal day-to-day affairs of White Harbour; politically, financially and everything else he planned to dump-, no entrust those crucial jobs; to his wife Jeyne and Maester Godwin respectively. He believed that the three would balance each other out and manage the city far better than he ever could.

After informing the aforementioned trio of their new roles and getting them prepared to do, he decided to give his wife a souvenir to remember him by before he left. That took up most of the remaining day, so he thought he'd kill some time in his study; reading a book while drinking some Arbor gold sounded perfect. As he went on his way, he was stopped by his Lord Paramount.

"Torrhen! Wait, I have need of you!" Cregan's voice echoed all around the hall way they were walking through. Meekly he replied; "Yes, my lord. What would you have me do?" Starks had always scared him with their large frames, valyrian steel eyes and seemingly forever apathetic body language. They seemed as unmovable and invincible as the Wall itself; he could easily understand how their ancestors were able to conquer a land as great and large as the north.

He spoke bluntly and quickly; "Walk with me lad. I need men loyal to me and mine to go around the North ensuring that rules on the fleet sizes are kept. I have already sent my cousins out on the survey and Jonos is busy with organising the taskforce. And even if they were available they wouldn't be nearly as skilled as Manderly for this job." his words were so fast that if I didn't give him my full attention I would be sure to miss something important.

"My lord, you commanded me to ensure the north was not forgotten in King's Landing. I can expect that such a... diplomatic venture is over?", surely not as Stark would want to attract as little attention as possible to the North and weakling yourself politically would definitely do the opposite. "For you perhaps but don't worry about that. I need you ensure the quality and quantity of the northern navy, do this for me and will make you Warden of the Shivering Sea." Torrhen had never heard of such a title and knew not its powers it would hold.

"You will still be sworn to me, but in peace-time all northern trade on the eastern coast will be controlled from White Harbour and directed by you and your descendants. In war-time, you will have the power to rally all warships on the eastern coast from Skagos to the Bite; they will be yours to command. And I'll double your fleet limit from fifty to a hundred"

Such naval power was never heard of in the north. He'd be the northern equivalent of Redwynes and the Hightowers combined. Nothing bar the Royal Fleet could dare challenge him and even then he had more than a fair chance of winning. Stark obviously saw the look of wonder on his face and continued; "What say you lad?"

But if there could be a Warden of the Shivering Sea, then there could surely be a Warden of the Sunset Sea. It made him wonder who it would be. As for the current offer made to him he had no other option but to accept; it was best kind of deal as he would lose nothing all he was doing was ensuring that the right number of boats were being built and to a decent enough standard.

It wouldn't even be difficult as he knew all there was to know about boats and the building thereof, there would be little to no danger as he'd take a number of his personal guards and it gave him the chance to meet and get to know his vassal captains all over the North. Although there was a slight problem that did came to mind, but he could deal with that in his own time.

"I would be deeply honoured to receive such a position, my lord. May the gods bless you for such a boon." his answer was strong and confident worthy of a Warden. "You must understand with this great power comes great responsibility, I need you to start sending diplomats to the Free Cities, Slaver's Bay and beyond to secure trade deals not only for White Harbour but the rest of the eastern coast.

Don't just have them be your own relatives mix in a good number of Skagosi, Flints, Woolsfields and Karstarks as well." It irritated him to allow those savage stoneborn in his harbour but he understood why. He would see his family to be more powerful under the wolves than they had been under the green hands.

 **Elric Stark - 134 AC**

Their job was finally done; mapping and charting the north. The back-breaking search and digs for natural resources, the long journeys into areas that hadn't been seen since the days when children of the forest still walked the land, fighting and remote clans in the wolfswood and icy wastes then fighting all manner of beasts that killed men as easily as they had a shit. But they persevered and came back home to Winterfell, they were met by the new guard; the Winter Wolves a five thousand strong force. Their banner was a snow white direwolf on a field of steel grey.

The Wolves were led by their Lord Commander Jonos Cassel a man loyal to House Stark; it was captained by the second and third sons of various northern houses. Their strength was varied; it had two thousand infantry, fifteen hundred horsemen and fifteen hundred archers.

The infantry were all thoroughly trained in their weapon of choice mostly being longswords. They wore grey cloaks with grey plate and mail armour embossed with a white direwolf on their breast plates, most were also equipped with thick circular shields.

The horsemen were split into two groups; heavy and light. The heavy numbered five hundred, they and their steeds were armoured in heavy steel plate and mail. Their standard weapon were that they normally wielded were long steel and wooden lances with a large kite shield bearing either a white direwolf on grey or their own personal sigils, they were also equipped with a two handed greatsword or two handed great axe which they would use when they had broken their lances on their enemies. They also wore the grey cloaks and white direwolf on a breastplate. There were large contingents of barrowknights, Manderly knights and even the occasional southron hedge knight in their number also.

The light horse numbered a thousand strong and wore heavy grey dyed leather with fur coats to keep themselves warm with the grey cloaks. Their horses were lightly armoured to preferring speed over strength. They had a wooden kite shield like the heavy but it was significantly less thick and durable than the ones used by the heavy horse but it was considerably more manoeuvrable as a result. They used spears and longswords over lances and greatswords. They were mostly made up of squires and young men.

The archers were also lightly armoured with leather and split into two groups; short bows and longbows. They had the same armour; light leather with fur coat, no cloaks. There were five hundred short-bowmen; the remaining thousand were longbow men.

Personally, this felt like overkill just for a city watch. Thankfully it wasn't then. Five hundred swords and three hundred longbows would guard Winterfell itself and serve as personal guards for the Starks, a thousand swords, three hundred short bows, two hundred longbows and five hundred light horse would serve as the city watch and add as its defenders, the remaining five hundred swords, five hundred heavy horse, five hundred light horse, eight hundred short bows would be keepers of the peace. Their job would be to find and kill bandits, support the nights watch, aid northern lords and in times of war march to Moat Cailin and aid in the defence of the north.

They were given the rebuilt First Keep (renamed Wolves Keep) and the broken tower (renamed the Great Fang Tower) for their use. The Wolves Keep served as a headquarters for the Winter Wolves and the tower would serve as comfortable accommodations for the captains and commanders of the Winter Wolves. The courtyard surrounding the Wolves Keep was a re-made into a tiltyard for training and a new stable for the horses.

Elric took the thought of the warriors out of his head and continued onto Winterfell's Great Keep where his Lord Paramount waited. His brother Benjen led from the front as he always did. He looked around and saw the half-done city, the veritable army of work men that operated around it; they looked as if they came from Essos. They spoke in a multiple of tongues none were decipherable to him. He gave them little mind and merely daydreamed, he heard his brothers talking animatedly to one another talking about their wives and their new keeps. They had been told beforehand of what they would get while he on the other hand was a third son and was simply fine with being with his family, that was reward enough for him. He remembered miserably when his mother and father had leaving him alone, his father in the Dance of Dragons a few years back and his mother of winter fever and a broken heart just before they left.

They enter through the South Gate docking their horses in the stables and from there entered the Great Hall, where Cregan Stark sat upon his pale throne his courtiers stood solemnly whispering and murmuring . He was an imposing figure he was older than Brandon but not as old as Benjen. "Kneel", he spoke with such authority that anybody listening would be bound to do whatever he had said. Elric and his brothers, as well as everyone else in the room knelt to Warden of the North.

"My kin, you have served me well. You have proven your loyalty to the North and to me. I would have you all rewarded; Benjen, you shall be given the lordship of Moat Cailin and its lands, prove yourself more and all houses of the Neck shall be sworn to you. Brandon, you shall be given the lordship of the Wolf's Den and be given the Shield Of White Harbour. Elric, you shall be given the lordship of the Stony Shore, and and permission to build a holdfast and a fleet."

That was far better than he had ever expected, he would miss his brothers but he would have more power than he had ever expected. Life was good, and the future looked promising.

 **Viserys II - 136**

"Long Live King Aegon Third of His Name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms! All hail the King! Aegon! Aegon! Aegon!"

 **Later that same day**

"Brother you are the King on the Iron Throne will be the first thing that you will do?" Aegon merely glanced at him and smirked in his melancholic manner, simply collecting some overdue debts from some thieving wolves.

 **AN**

 **Thanks you all for reading. Big shout out to all who reviewed and an actual public reply to a compelling review by X59;**

 **Thank you for your compliments and by now I've dealt with the jumping paragraphs problem. The situation of northern independence is one I'm on the fence with. To fully understand I have to tell you why I wrote this in the way that I do. I try to make my character as realistic in the choices, whilst also being as interesting as possible. Authentic but entertaining, that's my motto with this.**

 **I could have Cregan simply declare himself independent of the Iron Throne after the northern fleets are finished building and the last dragon dies, but realistically what would that gain him... Nothing but war. He'd immediately be in war against six other kingdoms with larger fleets and larger armies.**

 **Yes, the Moat and the Neck could probably throw back any army that tries to march up there but you don't have to take the Moat to take the north. The north-western fleet against both the Redwyne and the Iron Fleets would result in inevitable victory for the Dragon. Once the fleets have won the naval battle they can secured a beachhead where they can simply ferry troops from Seaguard to Sea Dragon's Point or the Stony Shore or the Rills or the Barrowlands.**

 **Yes, the Starks would have a home field advantage but remember the Reach alone can summon a hundred thousand troops, the north probably only rally some fifty to sixty thousand for a perhaps a year before going bankrupt or running out of food or winter.**

 **Hell, the Dragon's don't even have to invade immediately, simply place a trade embargo and wait for a winter to weaken them severely. And then watch as they crawl back to them or one of their bannermen revolt and attack during the civil war. Even if the Targaryens do lose, they can attack again and again and again. The Starks are fine as Lord Paramounts, and care for their people immensely they wouldn't enter an unwinnable war for shits and giggles.**

 **When I was reading about Aegon III, I wondered why the Lord Paramounts didn't all declare immediate and simultaneous independence after the last dragon dies. The Targaryens wouldn't have a hope of regaining their kingdom without dragons. Why not? I thought about this for a while and realised that the Lord Paramounts had no reason to declare independence while also having all reason to remain Lord Paramounts. There were smaller chances of war in comparison to before Aegon's landing, guaranteed help should there famines or winter, more alliance options should the people close to you are warlike and finally less responsibility with the same amount of power.**

 **I say this because the Targaryens are light rulers; they don't try to change the culture of the rest of the Kingdoms or religion to make it more like that of Valyria's. No, they just ask for a small tribute of gold through taxes and leave everyone basically the same as before (mostly as the take land from the Stormlands and the Riverlands to form the Crownlands). This benefits the Lord Paramounts more than the Targaryens because when things get fucked up, they now have someone above them they can blame and leave to deal with the shit. This was shown during the Red Kraken event where the Greyjoys were going about reaving all across the Sunset Sea, the North, the West and the Reach were attacked. Did the smallfolk and lesser houses lament their Lord Paramounts for not having the proper defences? No, they blamed the Targaryens and especially Bloodraven for not having acted earlier.**

 **Another reason why the Lord Paramount wouldn't declare independence is that the king of the time; Aegon III is basically alright. He's not insane and doesn't go to war to make his dick hard that alone makes him better than half of the Targaryen Kings. His policy was bread and circuses, meaning that he would simply ensure that everyone from the poorest smallfolk to greatest lord and everyone in-between had food and contentment. People just don't remember him fondly is because that's all he did, unlike the Young Dragon or Daeron the Good there was no major events or goals that people could identify with and inspire themselves, i.e. the annexation of Dorne.**

 **Think about it before Aegon's Landing, when all the Lord Paramounts were kings. Was it a golden age? No, there were thousands of wars over the most petty reasons, barely anyone left their respective region let alone the continent, the Ironborn made any trade in the Sunset Sea impossible and the ruling of the Riverlands changed hands every couple hundred years making it incredibly difficult to having any of treaty or trade deal as the political stage was constantly changing.**

 **One of my favourite fan created characters is Daeron Stark in Winter's Child. I love him due to how relatable he is, he declares war and later on independence due to the love and loyalty he had for his brother. The love and loyalty that turns him insane as he continuously fails to fulfil his brother's goals, it drives his family away from him and make him nearly hated by the northern lords.**

 **I love that! He's a character with flaws and struggles, with love from his family and sheer strength of will he returns to sanity only weep at how far he's fallen. That is human! That is what a great person does! Struggle and overcome or fail and fall their demons. He's not some perfect puppet that can do no wrong and knows what everyone's thinking at all times and so never loses.**

 **To go back to your review, what I can gather from it is that you are suggesting that the Starks declare independence from the Iron Throne due to their naval increase and the rebuilding of Moat Cailin. I've already gone over how both of those can be beaten or bypassed. All I'm saying that independence is not impossible just implausible.**

 **X59, I'm not trying to be a douche and say that the independence idea is stupid; no it's a really good idea and a very possible avenue for the story to go through in the future. I just need to make it clear what my attitude towards this story would be. In fact just to victimize you less, I'll add a public response to each of my chapter from now on.**

 **Thanks everyone for reading, hope you enjoyed the chapter leave a review if you can.**


	4. Stronger North Stronger Westeros?

**Cregan Stark - 136**

The north was expanding like never before with the survey completed he now had a good idea of the natural resources in the north. The Neck had incredible herbs and wildlife, that weren't seen anywhere else in the known world the Reeds and Starks of Moat Cailin made large profits by selling those herbs and live examples of those wildlife to the Citadel in Oldtown who used it to make and improve medicines and cures.

The Saltspear, was home to various species of fish that were thought to only exist in the seas surrounding the Summer Isles making them a rare and extremely sought after delicacy by the southrons and Essosi, the floodplains that bordered the Bite, the Saltspear and the Fever were extremely fertile and could be used for more rigorous farming and agriculture than in comparison to the rest of the North.

The Cape of Krakens although not actually having any krakens, were home to various kinds of squids and octopi. Again animals that hadn't been noted in Westeros ever. The Flints made a monopoly from selling them off.

The barrowland weren't much for resources as the men didn't want to be digging up the graves of old Dustin Kings, there was Barrowton by the River Dustin which House Dustin ruled the Barrowlands from. The Rills were arguably the most influential region in the north due to it being the most fertile, its fertility being caused by the plentiful river that add nutrients and warmth to the land.

It was ruled by Ser Robyn Ryswell and his house, Cregan had actually sent Robyn to the Reach to discuss on different agricultural methods and variations on seeds that could potentially survive better in the North than the current ones. Stark was also loath to create mines and quarries as they it would drastically decrease the food in the north.

The White Knife had plentiful farms and port-towns, all over the river and its tributaries that went as far as the Lonely Hills, and Long Lake. House Manderly had Lordship of most of the towns and villages to the point of the where the river Cerwyn met the White Knife, and shared ownership of the Sheepstead Hills with the Hornwoods and Boltons.

In fact Lord Torrhen Manderly had sent him a surplus of ravens stating his annoyance at the new ports popping up on the east coast and his wish to have Stark support in closing down 'illegal' ports as he said it. Cregan truly didn't care for the closing of ports as that meant to him more people and a stronger north.

The Manderly part of the land was the only place where there were only silver mines, but recently the Boltons and Hornwoods began to develop the land and began exporting their own silver. The Hornwoods held most of the Sheepstead Hills and a result made the most silver which they imported from the White Harbour.

The Lockes of Oldcastle and Woolsfields of Ramsgate began to building more farms south west of the Broken Branch which already had a surplus of port-towns and coastal farms. The Flints of the Widow's Watch began building more farms inland to feed more people and ports and towns on the coast to supplement trade, they hoped to become a agricultural haven as the Rills were.

The Boltons had the held the Weeping Water and the Mouth of the Last River. They had settled a quick growing port town on the Last River calling it the Weeper's Last. It was from there where they traded their own silver from Bolton-controlled Sheepstead Hills, they also held most of the Lonely Hills which from there they mined gems, such as diamonds, rubies and opals which made them very rich actually richer the Manderlys and Mormonts.

They chose to trade from their own port rather than White Harbour, to escape the taxes that the Manderlys would place upon them. Cregan thought that the Boltons were growing too strong, far too quickly for his like. He needed a way to weaken them without seeming too harsh.

Karstarks were also strengthening, they traded lumber and furs from their forests with the Free Cities and places as far as Asshai and Qarth. Gold quite literally flooded the Karhold. They had built a port town on the River Karlon, which grew around the Karhold.

The Skagosi increased a hundredfold in power and wealth, before the 'Great Charter' as the lords were calling it; the Skagosi were thought as little more than barely organised wildlings, now they dominated as a trade power, arguably stronger than the White Harbour.

They traded seal fat, iron, bronze, copper and tin from their mountains all over the known world especially to the north of Essos and their merchant captains had boasted that they had gone as far as Ibben and the Thousand Islands in the far east. They had very strong navy that very nearly reached a hundred warships.

Of course that fleet only existed when all the houses of Skagos united together for singular purpose under one house, a feat which currently proved impossible as the dozens minor lords and three highlords all had some kind of blood feud or slight against one another. They misused their new fleets through wars, skirmishes and battles against one another. House Magnar was technically the Lord of Skagos and had the power and authority to command all the fleets of the Skagosi Isles, whether or not the lords of Skagos obeyed him was a different matter completely.

The Umbers had increased in somewhat size as well they owned the northernmost of the Lonely Hills, the Long Lake and northern wolfswood. They traded timber and gems out of both the Karport and Weeper's Last, they had a number of new ports and coastal farms on the Bay of Seals, they also had a new surplus of towns and farms on the Last River. They didn't have such an increase of strength such as the Boltons, Skagosi and Mormonts had but it was better than nothing.

The mountain clans had become the industrial centre of the North, they had found gold, bronze,iron,tin and nickel in their mountains, they traded gold for all it was worth. While keeping the more practical materials for supplying the north. They wanted to build some sort of capital for the all mountain clans. The Eerie but on a far larger scale, if they could do it it would take at least twenty years but it would be the greatest northern keep ever constructed. They built an arsenal in each of the mountains and with their wealth had hired Qohorik blacksmiths to teach them in the art of smithing.

Cregan expected great things from them; they were already the major supplier of weaponry in the north and gladly provided the armour and weaponry of the Winter Wolves at such a low price they would never want for materials. They used every port in the north to export their goods. No-one complained.

The Mormonts not only held Bear Island, but wildlings clans on the Frozen Shore and Skirling Pass swore fealty to them due to fact that it was fish caught by the Mormonts that fed them through the cold winter, their fleet was stronger than the fleet of the Greystarks. They were also richer than the Greystarks but would more than likely change soon.

They made large gains in strength selling weapons and armour to the wildlings for fealty. They also sold whale fat to both north and south. Cregan was only a little worried by this as not only meant an increase in wildling culture, but also a tenfold increase in strength for a once weak house.

House Glover made large profits in selling timber cut from the wolfswood, they used the profits and timber to build profitable fishing villages on the coast surrounding the bay of ice. The villages were small but were very new and could only grow in populace. They mostly traded through the new eastern port at the Stony Shore.

The new eastern port were growing faster than he had ever thought. The Greystarks of the Stony Shore had built their own keep called the Strong Stone, and had built a booming city on the east which had grown around it. They had even even changed their sigil to match; a golden direwolf running on a field of black.

Their Lord Elric had married one of Lord Greyjoy's daughter and made a deal that tried to ensure that his merchant fleet wouldn't need to fear any Ironborn raiders in the Sunset Sea. The Greystarks had even taken to the religion of the Drowned God to increase ties, the religion scared a lot of the houses sworn to him that there would be some kind of forced indoctrination into their religion. Cregan really didn't want to get involved and hoped there wasn't.

The strength of the Greystarks came from the sea as they collected pearls, crabs and quite literal tonnes of fish and earned their money through trading their fishing goods and feeding nearly the entirety of the north with their fish, Cregan believed that they made good contender for Wardens of the Sunset Sea against the Mormonts and Ryswells.

He had annexed House Cerwyns, and made them into a masterly house sworn to him. There was some complaints that were quickly forgotten when he promised the hand of his daughter to the hero's eldest son of the Cerwyns. Not only to unfold their lands into his, but he needed a close port to Winterfell for without it the Wintercity would have fallen before it had risen.

The Wintercity had become the crown jewel of the north, its capital and heart. The underground sewers built in ensured that it wouldn't smell like King's Landing; of shit and the ruin. Originally he wanted it to revolve around Winterfell, but they couldn't do that without going into the wolfswood. He wanted to have three castles to serve the corners of the Wintercity and build a fourth in the castle in west to serve as the fourth cornerstone.

It would have Winterfell to the east, Cerwyns to the south, the Queen's Hold to the north and the Snowfort the west. It took five years but It was finally done, the fourth would be named the Snowfort and be the the personal castle to any bastard. Not many lords could say that even their bastards had their own castles. The city would be so large that it took half a day's ride from Winterfell to Cerwyns and a full day from the Queen's Hold to Cerwyns.

The Wintercity was built in a grid style, with the White Palace at its centre. A shining gleaming construction of steel and silver. It would be the pinnacle of Northern greatness and grandeur. It was massive, half as large as Winterfell itself. The White Palace had eight large roads; four connected to the corner stone castles and the other four to the four integral gates of the city. The four gates were squarely in the middle of the each castle on the city walls. Each of the gates were made of thick and strong ironwood, once locked and sealed heavy iron iron pillars would slide from the left and lock into the right. Any attack by the gates was impossible.

The one between Winterfell and Cerwyns was the called King's Gate as it were the Kingsroad connected with the city between Cerwyns and the Snowfort was called the White Gate as it had a road that connected directly to White Harbour, the one between the Snowfort and the Queen's Hold was called the Dread Gate as it connected directly to the Dreadfort, the one between the Queen's Hold to Winterfell was called Wolf's Gate as it went into the Wolfswood and branched off connecting to the Strong Stone and the

The city was the largest in Westeros, with its spacious design there was lots of room for any expansion. He had created a merchant house which with the permission from all the northern lords would direct and control trade across his kingdom, he had built its headquarters in the north and gave control of it to his aging uncle; a kindly and wise old man who was good with number and sums.

Bennard also owed more than simple allegiance to him as it was Cregan that made his sons highlords of importance in the north Agnes as a result the old man had not only ensured that House Stark was the dominant power in the north he also tripled the profits that they were receiving and made it so that Winterfell got all of it. Cregan didn't know how the old man did such things but he didn't complain as long as he had enough coin to do as he wished.

He used the coin to make the Wintercity invincible; he knocked down the outer walls of the cornerstone castles and built a uniform wall of black granite that rose as high and half as those of Winterfell and twice as thick. The walls had massive rapid firing ballistas and great catapults that could knock dragons from the sky. The wall was so thick that a ten men could march shoulder to shoulder from

There were no places of interest yet but he intended to invite guilds from all across the world to the city; the Alchemists Guild of King's Landing, the Red Priests of R'hllor from Volantis, a Septons from Oldtown, even some Green Men from the Isles of Faces. When the different groups would come it would really be glorious. The parks and open plazas grew winter roses and weirwoods. They had great statues of Stark Kings and legendary heroes of the North.

The Winter Wolves had their own keeps within each of the cornerstone castles. And he had been forced to double their number to simply manage the north and new cities, which put quite a strain on money and gold. His wife and their children simply adored the city. Alys loved having a castle all to herself, which she could change to whatever she wanted. His twins; Sarra and Alys were loved and adored by the populace of the Wintercity, he had already betrothed Sarra to a Cerwyn much to his wife's disdain.

Rickon was six would leave for the Dreadfort when he was ten and five, the Boltons waited hungrily for such a time he knew. He met the Bolton bride that would be his good-daughter; Myrielle Bolton, she was pretty and smart. Knew how to manage a household well and was two years older Rickon. Although her pale eyes made her seem a little cold at times. She and Rickon, had exchanged many ravens and seemed to care for each other. Royce had asked for the hand of his other daughter; Alys for Rodgar who was his son and heir. He didn't want to give in to the grasping lord but he knew that if the north was to grow he'd need the Boltons. So he asked for time to think on the offer.

"My lord, King Aegon has nearly arrived to the Wintercity, he is reported to be only a day's ride from Cerwyns." Cregan snapped out of his daydream and focussed on the man in front of him; one of the lower ranking captains for the light horsemen, he looked highborn probably some second son from a minor house somewhere. Cregan smiled warmly to the lad "Sorry, there I was a little distracted could you be so kind as to repeat what you said?". The man spoke nervously, but clear,"Aye my lord, King Aegon and his party are expected to be at the Wintercity within the end of the week. Their progress is slow due to their large size but some our light horse have seem him only a short distance away from Cerwyns."

Cregan digested that information that for a moment, considering the implications of the words. "Do we have knowledge of who is within his party? Surely to be making such a slow progress, we should have an idea of the people coming." The man looked down to the report in front of his for half minute then looked back up, we believe that within the King's party are; the Queen and her handmaidens, the Lord Paramounts with their families each with a large contingent of guards, then an array of free riders and hedge knights who would be attached themselves to the party.

Never before had there been any kind of movement as this before that all the Royal Family, the Lord Paramounts with their families all in one place. Although he was certain that the the Wintercity could hold this grand party, he wasn't sure that whatever Aegon had in mind would benefit anybody apart from Aegon. Still be would accept this and do his best to mitigate the damage. He only hoped that it wouldn't be too bad.

 **AN**

 **Thanks for all who liked and following my story thanks for reading. Big thanks to all who reviewed. Massive thanks to Lady-Silvanas to putting me into her Community. If any body want to be my beta reader, I'd be glad to put them into consideration. Does the north a little bit too strong or resource rich? It's all realistic, as I researched where different wildlife and minerals grown and are found. I'm not sure if its a bit too much or not.**

 **To H0110wl0rde15; Cregan is very anti-south and tries his best To distance the north from the Targaryens, Aegon and Viserys are aware of this amino the next chapter we'll see how their going to tie the northern the restorative kingdoms. The thing with the Manderlys being Wardens simply came from canon as the Manderlys have a veritable ton of titles honestly it's insane. The Manderlys will be a driving power in the north and will get involved with the south a lot.**

 **To the guy who asked about how a lord keeps their heir with them and about Alys Blackwood; During the Great Charter, Alys was pregnant and stayed in the half built Queen's Hold for the entirety of the event, sorry that I didn't mention it. Cregan isn't a family man is fine with selling off his own children to further his goals. In canon; Rickard Stark gives the eldest two (Brandon and Eddard) of his three sons to faster with different houses and it's said that Tywin Lannister fostered Jamie with the Marbrands for a while, so it's not uncommon that Cregan would do this.**

 **To tfranco9; I always thought that the North was underused and kinda weak compared to the other kingdoms. I mean the North is a third of the size of Westeros, and yet is dirt poor? I never got that.**

 **To RandomDude; I agree so much with you, and I never understood why so many people loved Rhaegar and Lyanna? They were massive idiots; Rhaegar could have avoided the entire war by simply not crowning Lyanna and going ahead with his plan of quietly staging a coup and going the crown from Aerys. I don't even blame Robert, he was well within his rights to fight, not claimants crown but fight. Hell, he could have taken Lyanna as a second wife, it's not the most dignified of positions but it would have been far better than the alternative. Any other course of action would have better.**

 **As for the flaws and everything; Cregan has a ton. He's a manipulative and selfish, he doesn't think through and just hopes that there's nothing that's big a enough problem he can't deal with. He incredibly lazy; he tells everyone what to do while he actually does nothing. He gives empty titles to have people do what he wants to them to do; Warden of the Shivering Sea to the Manderlys, when knows that they would practically already have the power and clout to command tall the ship on the eastern shore without the title. I could very easily turn him into a villain.**

 **To Jack Grey Logan; I'm honestly thinking about an independent north, when you're right they would need allies. Alys Blackwood going to be the catalyst for all of that.**

 **I'm adding a little game; If anyone can guess my favourite character in the entire history of Westeros, I'll implement a story arc, or character or legendary weapon or whatever. Just something that they want. It'd be a little unfair without clues so; they are a male character, with the blood of the Dragon who played a crucial part in winning a civil war. None as cursed.**


	5. The Woes of a Men

**Aegon Targaryen III - 136 AC**  
Aegon was impressed by the Starks; he had read plenty of books and scrolls on the Starks and the north as a whole. They were the oldest house in Westeros, claiming to have existed ten thousand years before the conquest and ruling the north as kings and Lord Paramounts for eight thousand years.

They were well respected and loved even by the majority of their bannermen, not a feat all the Lord Paramount could claim. He didn't like how they constantly snubbed his house only 'bothered' themselves with the rest of the kingdoms when they felt like it affected them. He hated how they thought themselves so fucking above it all, how they believe themselves so righteous and proud that they could do anything they wanted and still be seen as blameless. He knew that Cregan Stark saw him as nothing but puppet king being controlled by the other Lord Paramounts and held nothing but disdain for him, a notion apparently held by the all the other Lord Paramounts. He knew of how they preferred his brother Viserys to him, a concept that Aegon also preferred. But he still planned to deal with them and their 'notions', which was a personal affront to him.

Aegon looked to beside him and saw his Kingsguard riding next to him; Ser Marston Waters to his left and Ser Mervyn Flowers to his right. Water's loyalty was unquestioned and his above average but Flowers was rumoured to be implicit of his sweet Jaehaera so as to advance his trueborn brother and their house, Aegon didn't put much stock in those rumours as the man had seemed loyal and done nothing that would be deserved of such accusations. He had taken three with him to defend him and his family leaving the rest to defend what little family remained to him in King's Landing.

Ser Joffrey Staunton was better sword than the rest but he was young and rash, he rode by Aegon's brother and hand Viserys as they talked to one another. His wife and children travelled in the wheelhouse just behind them; pregnant Larra and her one-year baby Aegon named in the 'honour' of his brother as Viserys called it. Thinking of his brother's happiness almost made Aegon weep for his losses; watching his mother being devoured before him, the loss of his wife to a suicide of all things.

He thought that she was happy, content with life and being married to him but it appeared not. He had thought of taking a new wife as many lords had offered him their daughters and sisters, but he felt that any love from between a woman's legs wouldn't give him any true happiness. He had thought instead to name his brother as his heir and would rather focus rather on rebuilding the kingdom than being a father, but the gods make fools of us all and instead his brother convinced him to do the opposite and marry Daenaera Velaryon. For the good of the realm, Viserys had said, for the good of the realm indeed.

The girl wasn't the worst but she held no attraction for him. They were courteous to one another, he had bedded her but there wasn't enough love or care for one another to call it anything other than fucking. He had let her go to the Driftmark when enough coin and workers to rebuild Spicetown and High Tide as they had been destroyed during the war. He truly didn't care whether she came back or not.

Their party held a great many people wanting to join their adventure north, some ordered to do so and others out of their free will. The Lord Paramounts of Westeros had come to his call; arrogant Loren Lannister and his buxom Crakehall adorned with the finest gold the Westerlands had to offer, jovial Leyton Tyrell a bumbling fool with a fox-eared Florent for a wife decorated in vibrant greens and bold yellows, over ambitious Hosteen Tully with his meek wife from House Darry embellished with comparatively humble clothes of fine materials with little to no decorations, thunderous Durran Baratheon and his equally loud Dondarrion wife, honourable Jasper Arryn with his plain-faced wife from the Royces, damnable Dagon Greyjoy and the pretty whore he called wife.

Aegon had steadfast allies in the Baratheons, Tyrells and Tullys. That loyalty that had come from his ancestor's actions of placing them as Lord Paramounts, he could trust them somewhat. Not completely of course but more than he did most. The Arryns were his distant kin through his grandmother Aemma Arryn and they had supported his misery during the Dance, but after the dragons died they thought themselves invincible in the Eyrie thousands of leagues above the world and so grew to ignore him except when he called for them by name.

The Greyjoys were the most daring and bold of the Lord Paramounts; certainly the most damn annoying with outright raiding on the Sunset Sea, the man openly denied it but yet who else would dare challenge the Lannisters at sea and most damningly of all use longship raiders. He held some favour for the Ironborn as they had supported his mother during the Dance but they were soon becoming a nuisance.

The Lannisters were a fading power in his eyes, weak leaders with more pride than sense had caused them to gain powerful enemies in their own kingdom such as the Reynes. They had a good man with Jason but the man had fallen at the Battle at the Red Fork, with his death came to a succession crisis that lasted two years. He didn't belive that they could hold onto the Rock for more than a century or two, maybe more if a Lannister with actual brains instead gold led them.

Aegon was fascinated by the northern castles such as Moat Cailin despite the fact he hadn't entered the inner sanctum of the castle, the design was incredible. The castle had three sets of walls in a circular ring around the centre fort; each was as high and as thick as those of Harrenhal. Within each ring, there was a large town, which probably supplied the men who defended the castle. Each wall had at least, ten towers that had massive siege weapons such as listened long-ranged scorpion launchers and devastating catapults that would fire large casks of wildfire and boulders that would decimate any army that was mad enough to attack them. Just outside of the outer most walls was a massive moat that was wide enough to warrant the use of canoes and it looked deep enough that Aegon could stand at the bedrock, reach for the sky and have no hope of breaking surface. Simply looking at the fearsome castle he could understand why no-one tried to attack the Moat, it was suicide.

Although he wondered how many men were needed to fully defend the castle. At least two thousand at the very least, the cost of the castle was to simply pay and supply for the men would be exorbitant. The castle was grand enough to suit a Lord Paramount or even a king. The lord of the castle being a Stark didn't surprise him, the man was seemingly kind enough and was more than able to entertain his host. When they left it was in good enough spirits for the trip. When they reached the newly made Wintercity, they were welcomed by cheering crowds and flower petals being thrown at them from the people who lived from the tall buildings above.

Aegon could count on the back of one hand when being king felt like what the stories and songs said; this is was one of those times. He had never felt more royal or more Targaryen when a city's worth of people came out to simply welcome him; their chants and roars of Aegon, made him feel every bit a dragon. The city itself was beautiful with its artful statues of old Starks; a grey granite Bran the Builder welcomed them to the city of his descendants with builder's hammer of bronze in one hand, iron sword in another and a crown of steel upon him. They were led to the heart of the city; through the King's Gate and one of the large roads that led directly to the Stark Palace. Aegon heard his brother laugh next to him "The Starks don't do anything by half-measures do they brother?" Aegon was forced to agree.

Within the White Palace, everything was a sparkling beauty, adorned with gold and silver. It boasted more than a thousand rooms designed so beautifully that it made the splendour of the much vaulted Casterly Rock pale in comparison. Unlike the statutes of outside, within the palace the statues were of finely chiselled marble and not only of the Starks but also other northern heroes and legends; Bael the Bard seducing a gorgeous princess with a harp of gold and a tongue of silver, Bran Ice-eyes staring to a silver moon with diamonds in the place of eyeballs and his immediate favourite Torrhen the King-Who-Knelt presenting his iron and bronze crown to a strikingly handsome amethyst-eyed Aegon the Conqueror. The portraits were framed with gold and silver, showing artfully drawn wolves, bears and many other beasts of the north.

That occurred little over a week ago, everyone had entertained themselves either by exploring the Wintercity although some parts were still being partially built but overall it was still rather beautiful. When Aegon called a council of his lords to inform them of their his Lord Paramounts he noticed that how relaxed and content they were, he smirked and thought to himself of what a masterstroke it was to have the Lord Paramounts to bring their wives with them as it would keep them in good spirits and compliant to his new reforms. He sat on a golden throne of a moderately large planning room of the Winter Palace.

Aegon waited till all the high lords were seated in their own respective seats around the table, their seats shown to them through their own sigil proudly being displayed on the back of the seat. They patiently waited for him to begin, "My lords, for too long has the kingdom stood divided. Each lord here represents their own respective region and the wishes of their people. I believe that with equal representation in King's Landing we can ensure a diplomatic peace that would be able to create a future where any disputes or conflicts can be able to be settled diplomatically without any cause for violence."

There were mixed responses of this; Stark and Greyjoy stared at him blankly as if he had spoken a dialect of Valyrian mixed with rough Dothraki, Lannister and Tyrell looked vaguely interested, Tully, Baratheon and Arryn were rather enthused for the idea.  
Aegon continued confidently "To further this goal, I'd like to create a new title and role; Peer of the Realm. A Peer of the Realm will be given a place on the small council where they can voice of the opinions and speak out for the traditions of their people. A Peer of the Realm can only be chosen by their respective Lord Paramounts and to ensure certain expediency whenever a Great Council is adjourned only a Peer of the Realm can cast their votes." Now everyone was interested and strangely Stark looked slightly worried for some reason.

"A Peer of the Realm can be of any house and there can only one per region. But this is only the first many ways to enforce and lengthen peace in our time. I believe that through marital ties between the families of Lord Paramounts will we further tie the kingdoms together. For example-" Aegon looked around the room for a subject to test his theory upon, "Lord Tully! Yours is a land that is surrounded by various other kingdoms, I'd say marry your children to the Arryns perhaps. But these are plans for tomorrow."

Most of the lords were probably wondering to what end did his reform go. He planned to ensure peace for as long as he could so that none in the kingdom would ever experience such horrors as he did. Not his reign certainly. Aegon's eyes swept over them quickly sparing a second in each lord "My lords, I understand that you would all like to return to your families, and I would soon be dismissing you all but I would ask that you all chose a Peer of the Realm before my party leave the Wintercity." As the Lord Paramounts began to leave their seats Aegon concentrated his view on the main reason he had travelled north in the first place and not have his banners come to King's Landing; Cregan Stark the man who believed he could simply do as he wished without a care of the consequences. He locked eyes with Stark and made his wishes evident; that he wanted to have a private conversation with the lord. The man kept that damnable blank look and promptly sat down.

"You wanted me, my king? Of what reason would I be needed, your highness?" Stark spoke slowly and almost mockingly as if there was a jest that Aegon was unaware of. It made his blood boil. "Yes, there is, you do remember the last conversation we shared together my lord? Where you kindly asked for a small boon for your contribution to the war? Yes? Do you remember how you promised me it would be for the benefit of Westeros ser? Do you remember how began building warships and threatening my reign?!" Aegon spoke slowly, at first, picking up speed and anger as he spoke until the last question was a roar worthy of any dragon. The man remained calm almost bored even, it made Aegon want to have him gelded "I remember my king, I also remember how you broke your word and the oath sworn between our houses. In comparison borrowing, a few coppers seemed like the minor offense at most." Aegon was going to kill this insufferable man. It wouldn't even be hard. Just reach out and snap his neck with a quick twist. It would be worth the war, worth all the deaths, worth all the naming of Aegon the Cruel or the Malicious or whatever. It would be worth the irritating comparisons to his father; Daemon. It would all be worth it to just kill this smug bastard.

But he restrained himself then painfully remembered his mother's death, a sobering thought that ended all ideas of murder no matter how worthy it would be. He grit his teeth and simply ignored the thinly veiled insults and the almost mocking tones of the man before him, besides there were other ways to get revenge that didn't require steel. "No matter Stark, you stole from the Crown-", and no-one crosses the crown, certainly without some painful scars to show for it anyways. "-a fifth of all profits made by any Northern houses or lords for a ten year period will be taken as penace and will be given to the Crown."

There was no physical response from the northern lord bar his eyes going as his colder -if such a thing was possible- as their famed Wall. Aegon knew he had hit a nerve and he felt it sweet to pour salt into the wound. "Also, it may be a reasurace to know that a good portion of this tax would be given to the Faith of the Seven so that they spend it on helping the poor and sick." this was bullshit and they both knew it, the Faith -especially the Most Devout- would rather spend the money rather buying more luxuries for themselves and fucking their boy-whores than actually helping people. It aganist was everything that the ever-righteous Starks and their ancient weirwood gods stood for. And made Aegon almost smile in glee. He stood up, took one more victorious look at the angry snarl on Stark's face and said his half-hearted farewells before he left the room. Content.

 **Cregan Stark - 136 AC**  
 _Well... that could have gone better._

He mulled on the punishment levied on his house and his kingdom, as he lay beside his content wife. He hadn't though about it for most of the day as he had other duties, but now he was unoccupied. It definitely could have gone worse. Hell, had such a lord tried that during the reign of Maegor the Cruel; that lord, his house and every one who had shared wine or broken bread with the man would have died agonising deaths by way of dragonfire. So he wasn't too angered by the tax, it would be over before he would have noticed more than likely.

No, he was more angered that the boylovers and sword-swallowers in the Starry Sept and the Great Sept of Baelor would have even the smallest portion of hard earned northern coin. Coin that would have better used to rebuild the keeps of the Night's Watch and arm its men, or it would have better used throwing dumping in the White Knife for the all good it would be used for in the hands the of the poor jest that was the 'Most Devout'. Their bloody names were the only thing even somewhat correct as they were only devout to their own pockets and own carnal desires.

Cregan remebered the converation he had with Lord Leyton Tyrell over religious tensions caused by Northern traders in Oldtown, the anger of the Faith over the spread of Northern culture in their holy city. " _Its not from me or Lord Hightower, just so you know. Its from the Starry Sept, their making a bit of a fuss and it would be just marvelous if you just, y'know just traded a litttle bit less maybe? Or better yet just change religions, it wouldn't be that much of a change would it?"_ He almost wanted strike the man down, but he knew that it wouldn't solve anything.

No it was the nuisances in Oldtown that was a cause of that. But he had other more immeadiate problems to deal with them; Bolton strengthening, a northern civil war and a lack of men were the main problems. Not boyfuckers on the other side of the world.

The Boltons controlled the mouth of the Last River, the Weeping Water,the source of the White Knife, the north of the Sheepstead Hills and a the south of the Lonely Hills. There were an abundance of towns and villiages on their rivers. They even held a major port on the Last River; the Weeper's Last. They had majority control over the Lonely Hills, and had began building a castle upon it that would consolidate their hold.

They could rally ten thousand men to their banners a rather scary number considering that he could only rally seven thousand, fifteen if one counted the Tallharts,Glovers and Cerwyns. Bolton's strength was only growing, and his maester estimated that their army would soon double his in another fifty years maybe sooner if their rate of growth increased. That didn't feel right to Cregan as it meant that the Boltons could call upon ten thousand men immediately, without out any vassals in the way.

Luckily he the that gods had seen it right to aid him, in his time of need. What else could explain for Roose Snow; Lord Bolton's bastard. A very powerful bastard at that with a Lysene noblewoman for a mother. Lord Snow came to north with one of the delegates that Manderly had sent out to secure trade deals with the Free Cities presumably Lys. Roose had entered Winterfell and begged to speak with the Lord Paramount of the North, Cregan met the bastard in court and definitely see the resemblance between the fifteen year old boy and Royce Bolton,

Roose had the platinum hair showing his Valyrian ancestry, and also had a angular face that gave him an almost unnatural beauty, but it was his eyes that showed his northern heritage they were heterochromatic eyes; one was paler than stone, darker than milk and could send the fear of the flayed man into any creature that looked into it. The other was a soft lilac that reminded Cregan strangely of his mother and all the warmth that it brought.

He didn't trust the boy at all, he had the blood of a Bolton and that meant he was dangerous simply on principle. But he need a way to weaken the Dreadfort and the boy provided a way of that. Even if the boy was a complete failure of a lord it would be the Boltons that suffered, although Cregan doubted that and He would make him lord Lord of the Weeper's Last and Cregan would gain a stranglehold on the trade of the Boltons. With a simple raven he'd be able to able to shut them down quickly in case of rebellions and without too much being blood being spilt.

If Royce disliked it and tried to resist then, he was defying his superiors and that was offense worth complete annihilation for his house. At least it was in Cregan's mind. He didn't have timen nor the energy to fully give the boy the proper pomp and ceremony in becoming a lord of the realm. He gave him a piece of paper stating his new status as Lord Roose Lyeton of Weeper's Last and an armed guard of three hundred Winter Wolves then sent him on his way to the the Dreadfort.

His sigil was black viper coiled and ready to strike on a field of lilac with eyes of crimson. The words of this house would be; Don't tread on me. Cregan couldn't tell if it was a warning or a plea. It was also rather passive for a Bolton, it wasn't like he was expecting a bloody skull grinning on a field of black but all the same it wasn't what he expected from the boy and it unnerved him to say of the least. But when the boy reached the Dreadfort he'd wouldn't be Cregan's problem, if he was found dead and his heavy guard found slaughtered then. All the better as it would allow him to call Royce a kinslayer and have him executed on those grounds alone.

That was one part of a problem dealt with the other parts had yet to be considered. He looked at his sleeping beauty cuddling him and sighed _Sweet wife, if only you knew about the problems I faced for us and our children_. He stroked her beautiful face and luscious hair, the tips of his mouth a curling upwards as she smiled at his touch.

 _For you my love, for the North._

 **AN**

 **Thank you all for reading and even an greater due of thanks to those who subscribed. Massive shout out to LoriensKnight, LiveLikeMe123 and Ice Fire and Blood. You guys are so great and I'm never gonna stop being grateful for your help, thanks.**

 **Firstly, I'm just gonna throw you all a bone and tell you; Bloodraven isn't the guy. In my opinion Bloodraven is the most unique character in the history of the story, I almost wished they portrayed an tv shows during the Blackfyre Rebellions just to see a live action version of the guy. But he's not my favourite, I love just how unimaginative most of you guys are with this; no Stannis Baratheon? No, Robert Baratheon? No, Aegon the Elder? Really?**

 **To Jack Grey Logan; I believe that Aegon didn't honor the pact out of a combination of many several factors.1 The north didn't do enough in the war; they only sent two thousand men when they could have sent thirty thousand. Yes, the war occurred in winter but Targaryens aren't the most understanding at the best of times.2 He didn't believe that the northerns were worth of having a Targaryen princess, the idea of sending a princess of the blood to live in the cold uncivilized north seemed as foreign as giving up his crown. 3 There was only one female Targaryen left and he needed to repopulate the family tree.**

 **To onyxhaider98; the north probably isn't going to be strong until the three quarters through the reign of Aegon the 3rd, marriages to any one outside the north right now is probably a foreign concept as Cregan needs to unite undisputed for it to survive. Alliances outside the north nay may happen but don't expect it until after the Young Dragon's Conquest. The Freys aren't pleased with northern ports reducing the number of people coming through their bridge and will act soon to rectify this. Its only been five years, of Cregan called his banners he'd have thirty thousand men rallied in little under a month with around twenty thousand reserves.**

 **To AlucardY17; Cregan has a good goal with honorable intentions that he tries to complete with dirty and dishonorable tactics.**

 **To X59; there are the seeds of rebellion, as the different houses begin competing against each other for power and strength. Manderly against Bolton against Magnar to be Warden's of the Narrow Sea. Greystark against Mormont. Most of them are just power struggles against neighbours but have the ability to turn them into going something more violent.**

 **Thank you all for reviewing and I hope you enjoyed the chapter**

 **Goodbye!**


	6. Sparks Of Rebellion

**Maester Kennet 136 AC**

"We can't pay for such a tax; the lords won't stand for it!" Alys raged at her husband, he noted that she was still a beauty after three births and thirty years. Although her beauty wasn't as great as her anger in this moment, he didn't understand why though as the problem seemed rather simple to him; they borrowed money and now it was time to pay back the money that they owed, if they couldn't pay it back then it was there fault for taking too much out in the first place. But he had entered in the middle of the argument and didn't have knowledge of all the facts besides who was he to judge a highlord such as Cregan and his wife.

He was the fourth son of House Waynwood and had joined the Citadel on the suggestion of his mother, he agreed as he didn't wanted to be a strain on his family so he chose to leave and pursue a life of knowledge and wisdom in the goal of bettering the realm. He had joined the Stark household two years before the Dance and had done his best to be seen as worthy to the Maester of a Lord Paramount; only a step beneath Grand Maester who had the ear of the king himself! _Not bad for only a decade's worth of studying_.

He had been invited invite the solar of his lord, and entered only minutes previously before being welcomed to the inner sanctum of a lord paramount with angry shouts. He looked at the nobles he was meant to serve and found it necessary to end the argument before it could become physical or one say something they would regret in the future. As loud as he dared and with as much respect as he could gather the maester spoke; "my lord and my lady, I would beg the right to be made aware of the topic of which you seem to be almost ready to kill each other for.' They stopped their argument abruptly to silently stare him as if he had never been seen by either of them; their emotions were hidden well as all he could sense that they were fuming with one another.

Lady Alys huffed and spoke first, it was unsurprising as she had shown herself to have the shortest temper of the two preferring to take the more direct route, no matter who it angered or slighted. "My husband seems to have forgotten his manhood and apparently has held a secret desire to become the dragon's whore". Lord Stark's response was as quick as it was incensed; "You dare woman! You dare insult me in my own hall!" "I do more than dare dear husband. What will you do? Bend over, lift up your skirt and timidly ask for it gentle?" her words were light and mocking as she smiled innocently at him, baiting the wolf lord.

Kennet grimaced as Alys released her venomous words and braced for the no doubt fiery response from Lord Stark. It wasn't the first time she shown why they called her 'Black' Alys, he remembered when she had spoken to one of the maids in the Queen's Hold and made the poor girl run away crying after only a few minutes of talking to her. He had wondered more than once why Lord Stark married her, perhaps he liked a challenge? All the same it wasn't his place to judge and so he didn't.

But it was his place to help his masters even if they wanted to kill each other and so Kennet all but threw himself between them preventing all any acts of violence from occurring, he had his back to Lord Stark and so gazed into the dark eyes of Alys Blackwood. His splayed out as if he was to be crucified. He saw humour and anger within them but there was also love, concern and care that made him content somewhat knowing that she bared at least some positive emotion towards her husband. If she did not then he despaired for their marriage as he didn't believe that it would be a happy one.

He heard a howl of righteous indignation behind him and a terrifying scrape of steel, before crying at the top of his lungs "Stop this madness!" He prayed to every god his mind could remember in the short half-second that seemed to last an eternity, he knew that if his lord didn't calm himself then he would get a sharp sword between the ribs or bowels. Not the best place to have them he thought darkly. He closed his eyes in prayer and desperation; his mouth whispering half a dozen prayers in half a dozen tongues each for salvation and a peaceful rest.

A second passed. Then another, and another. He open his eyes, looked down to his chest and then patted down his torso checking that he wasn't in some post-death hallucination and his body didn't have a gaping crimson wound where his heart was meant to be. Although the prospect was fascinating, of that he didn't deny. Once he was certain that he wasn't about to be join his elder brother in the next life, he turned around and saw a tall bearded man with black hairs that were beginning to grey more than likely due to stress. He was a handsome man in the 'gruff warrior king missing his crown' sort of look but the handsome man terrified Kennet all the same.

It wasn't the glare of absolute loathing that was more than likely directed to the person behind Kennet, nor was it the massive smoky grey sword that looked sharp enough to slice through scales of Balerion himself, it was the tired look he held. His shoulders were dragged down, his hair was dishevelled and lacking its usual Stark lustre. He looked run ragged, as if he had aged at least ten years in a single night. The tired man ran a hand through his hair, looked at his wife without the passion he had earlier as if simply drained of all the fire he held only moments ago and sat down on one of the seats in the solar . As he was he sighed dismissively "I don't know Alys, if it makes me less of a man for seeking peace so be it."

They kept staring at the lord waiting for a response, waiting for an action more like his usual self, when they were shown that he wouldn't at least for the time being Kennet turned immediately to the Lady of Winterfell; "My lady, I have never seen such an attitude from the Lord Cregan before in all my years of serving the Starks could you please explain what this conflict could be to provoke such a response?" his tone was respectful but demanding. She looked equally as confused as he felt, he noted though that before she began she shot a look to her husband before settling her eyes onto him; "Truthfully good maester? I would not know, this argument began when my husband told me that the King was to increase taxes on the north by a quarter for the next ten years."

That alone was worthy of rebellion, it was outrageous. No other kingdom had such a burden, it would be detrimental to the prosperity of Westeros and setback the north by years as they would struggle to pay for their new improvements and pay the crown as well. The shock must have shown as, Alys continued "Exactly that is what I felt and told to him straight that the Crown had no right demanding such price upon us."

She certainly had a couple of good points; the Crown was asking for far too much and the northern lords weren't going simply smile as their new riches were being carted away from them. But to defy the crown was rebellion and as long as the Targaryens had dragons they could terrify their vassals into line or burn them if they didn't comply.

Kennet felt that a diplomatic approach was best as to not step on any toes; "My lady surely being a little cautious wouldn't hurt anyone-", Alys erupted at this "This isn't a matter of being hurt. It's a matter of pride! We are a Great House of Westeros, kings in our own right! If this boy king dares to challenge the wolf, we'll show him why we hold the largest amount of land bar none in the known world! If he comes with Fire and Blood, we'll throw him back with winter and steel!" _She can speak rather loudly for one so small_ he thought.

As enraged as she was she continued "- If that bastard wants to send what little dragons he has left to die in the north, so be it! Moat Cailin has faced far greater opponents when it was at a lesser state; let the dragon come in his hundreds of thousands. Our Old Gods won't allow us to fall, name an enemy who has conquered the north? None, not the Andals and certainly not the Targaryens." Kennet said the obvious answer as inoffensively as he could "The Starks my lady". She glared daggers at him that.

A voice came out, it was tired but was confident and strong "one doesn't need to take the Moat to take the North; our navies are nothing compared to those of the Arbor, or the Iron Fleet, or even the royal fleet. Should they land in the north and gain a toehold they can-" "They can be thrown back into the sea!" Alys cut off her husband and once more made her beliefs in the argument known. Kennet in all honesty sided with the lady; he truly believed that if Lord Stark called the banners now he could potentially take King's Landing alongside a naval fleet from White Harbour, with almost little to no resistance.

But Cregan found another hole in the lady's argument; "And if we fail?" Alys looked at him strangely as if the thought of failure did not occur to her. She offered no reply. He continued; "If we fail then not only will our house be put the sword so will half the houses of the north. We will be remembered the same as the Gardeners, the Hoares and the Durrandons; age old kings who fought the Targaryens and died for their efforts", he looked around and saw that no one would offer him a response "if we are to take independence and _hold it_ , then we have to smart about it. We need allies, we need men, and we need to be stronger than we have ever been before."

Kennet felt it opportune to speak; "We cannot be able become stronger, if we are to take a tax that weaken us so greatly." "So we don't pay it" which was Lady Alys' response which was painfully blunt as always, she continued "I'm certain that the Essosi builders that we hired will only need a few more years to finish the new castles then we can have them help finishing the fleets being constructed in the Sunset Sea. We can trade our minerals with the Tyrells for food to help populate the north". Kennet found that was a non-sustainable option as the Tyrells wouldn't be likely to continue trading with the North once they had declared independence. But he kept his silence.

"As for allies; the Greyjoys have wanted independence since the Burning of Harrenhal, the Lannisters have never been happy kneeling to the Dragon and I'm sure the Arryns could be convinced to retake their crown." Kennet saw a major flaw in her argument; "you say that we shouldn't pay the new tax, surely a tax collector or like would notice?" Somehow the lady had an answer "we have to bring a representative for the North's don't we? A Peer of The Realm or something of the like. So we give them Torrhen, he's a loyal man who's been in the south before and knows how to play the game."

Kennet was still unsure; "Do you truly believe Lord Manderly can stall for twenty years?" "If not stall then at least divert the king's attention away from the north." Alys remained steadfast in her trust in the Lord of White Harbour. Kennet felt it best that they spoke less of subterfuge and spies as he was sure that Lord Stark was not as agreeable. her husband entered the argument at that point "They won't. The Arryns share blood with King Aegon. Distant blood, but blood all the same and being as 'high as honour' they're more likely to join the King than rebel."

Kennet offered a counter argument; "Why only allies that are Lord Paramounts? The Princes of Dorne would like nothing better than to burn Highgarden to the ground and alongside the Ironborn striking from the Mander they could achieve such a goal. With our new trade routes and with help from the houses trading with the Free Cities we can surely find allies in Volantis, Braavos and perhaps elsewhere. Houses Osgrey, Hightower and Tarly want nothing better than to put House Tyrell to the sword. And even if the Arryns won't join us, perhaps their banners will; House Royce has craved their Runic Crown since the they lost it and have been waiting for the opportunity to retake it."

Stark's interest was piqued from the look of the man, so Kennet continued "It's all well and good to be simply talking of allies, but how are supposed to tie their houses to us?" Alys looked smug for whatever reason "Have I not borne you three daughters my lord?" You mean to say that you would sell our own daughters for some bloody alliances" Lord Stark snarled in disgust.

There was a tired frustration to her voice as she spoke "I am not surprised to see that you'd only think the worst of me, dear husband." The look in her eyes were tired and held an edge that held more in common with a Valyrian steel sword that was mentioned earlier. She continued "But I am not one to give away my children to houses and families that they have not never even heardof unlike some."

Lord Stark narrowed his eyes, and hissed "What. Does. That. Mean." Lady Stark merely sighed "Nothing, absolutely nothing". Kennet re-joined the argument to release any tension "All the same any marriages outside the north will have to be considered for our independence, not right now of course but at a later date". The nobles in front of him made sounds of agreement.

Kennet then realized what they were talking about and gulped with difficulty. _We were actually considering on doing this; to split from the Iron Throne_. Lord Stark stood strong and straight as if his spine had been replaced with a spear, there was a fire in his eyes. He looked almost... regal. Kingly but not quite. He spoke as if only realising the weight behind the word he had speaking "This is treason, we speak treason"

Alys half-smiled mischievously to her husband "That we do my dear, but we can succeed, we can rise victorious in this." Still the thought of failure and its consequences lingered, Kennet voiced his issues "Should we fail..." "Then we fail; it needs no ceremony. But won't; we have a plan and we have the resources and we have the time. We can do this."

Kennet thought to himself _mayhaps I can be a Grand Maester after all_.

 **Elric Greystark 136AC**

 _I can't do this._

It was hell trying to manage his household, his wife and her entourage and then the foreign men that were hired to rebuild the ancient ruin that was to be his castle. To be honest he was probably making this to be a greater problem than it actually was. Surely it was a normal thing for his wife to rebuke every act he had made to be more than just friends who fucked, it was also probably normal for her holy men to wield driftwood cudgels and threaten anybody bar himself. Of course it wasn't, he failing to trick himself into believing he hadn't been given the short straw in the case of rewards from Cregan. He couldn't even comprehend who he had wronged to deserve such a fate.

His wife, Alayne Greyjoy was easy on the eyes with her raven hair and dark eyes. She had a high enough standing being the eldest daughter of the Red Kraken which was better than he'd ever thought he'd get as a third son. She hadn't come to his bed a virgin but she more than made up for it in how... experimental she was, so everything was fine in the bed. She was good at managing a household and knew how to direct the servants efficiently. When they had journeyed around their lands and met their small number of vassal lords, she behaved every bit the daughter of a Lord Paramount and made plenty of friends and allies.

She had borne him beautiful twin daughters and a healthy son despite her young age. They got on in nearly every topic they agreed or made a compromise that benefited both of them. She enjoyed her role as being his equal in all things and he enjoyed her advice and stories of her childhood, she was very nearly the perfect wife and it hurt him so much that the two problems she had were so terrible.

She kept to the gods of her ancestors; the Drowned God. Elric allowed her such religious freedom do so, as he wanted her to be happy and content with him. He still kept to his old gods of course, and had decided he didn't want to force his children into either religion and so decided to let them chose when they grew older.

To share her 'wonderful' culture she had invited some of her relatives and some priests of her homeland. Which were more forceful with their religion, and had begun to inadvertently turn his lords against him as they feared some kind of religious conflict which made things just perfect when trying to build up goodwill with them.

Her relatives which somehow included half the nobility of the Iron Isles, had thought it was a great idea to begin building their own keeps on his bloody land with builders from the Iron Islands. When he brought his grievances to his wife and would have commanded them to stop, she pleaded for their 'right' for them to have their keeps, she said of how his cousin; Cregan wanted the western coast populated.

Which was although true, as small folk from the Iron Islands were settling in the north by the thousands increasing the population of the fishing villages greatly and adding many new ones. Elric was certain that when his liege wanted the western coast populated it was with northern houses, but it mattered little their origin as long as they swore fealty to him and Winterfell.

They made excellent fishers and sailors, and there were enough young men willing to help with construction that the eastern fleets would finish moons before planned. So he compromised and gained around six new Ironborn vassals, much to the growing dismay of already existing northern vassals.

He had tried to integrate his new vassals into northern lifestyles, cultures and making them at least be aware of their neighbours by having them marry into the existing houses there and stay at the castle of the house they would be marrying into while the ironborn castles were being built, they would also grow weirwood grooves in their keeps to placate the northern lords.

Gratefully all the ironborn vassals all were happy having their keeps on the coast away from the more inland northerners and were already trying to make trade deals with the more inland houses for wood so as to craft more ships. They made warships and fishing vessels with equal enthusiasm much to his approval as what was the point of a hundred warships if you didn't have the men to properly man them and vice versa. He had also had them change from long ships favoured by the ironborn to the more standard galley which needed less men per ship and could have multiple uses apart from war. It wasn't much but it was progress.

His son; Cregan (named in the honour of the man who had given him so much) had just met his first name day and it was a day of relaxation with just him and his family but there was always some issue or another that bothered him. His heir although being quite young, had been already asked to be betrothed for several houses in the north and a couple houses in the south. The most relevant to him was the Mormonts; they were the most likely to become the Wardens of the Sunset Sea and it was in his best interests to the himself to them.

Although the Lannisters would also be a great ally to have with their mighty gold mines, would make him a major trading power. His fleet already was an equal for the Mormonts despite him being a very new lord and he wouldn't gain much from the Mormonts in comparison to the wealth and power that House Lannister could bring.

 _Those are tomorrow's problems and I can just be happy here with my wife and my children._ He thought as he looked to his smiling gleeful son. Although he wondered how his brothers were managing.

 **Benjen Greenstark 136 AC**

The Lord of the Laughing Tree was enjoying a pleasant trip around the gardens of Greywater Watch, with his loving wife, Lyanna in hand and his eldest son, Jon following his faithfully pointing out every strange thing that caught his green eye. Or he would be if he wasn't trapped in one of the numerous boring meetings that could have been a simple message he was forced to attend as Lord of Moat Cailin. Gods how he hated that name. To him; Moat Cailin was a symbol of the old North; a half forgotten ruin that was at best an echo of times past and at worst it was a useless eyesore. But it was his and he had done a lot to change it.

He had gotten the name from when his wife had shown him her favourite part of the Neck which was an old Godswood only half a league away from Moat Cailin, at first glance it would appear to be the same as any other Godswood just of a larger variant but as one entered the keep they were would see a great weirwood heart tree. The size of the tree was on calibre with the heart tree of Winterfell, it made Benjen wonder of the age of the heart tree and upon the face of the heart tree was a mighty face; merry and crying bloody tears of joy. It even laughed when a great wind blew through it. The tree must have been either planted and carved by the Marsh Kings of old or even the Children of the Forest of lore.

The thought of such a legendary origin made him almost shake in awe of the effigy of his gods. He had ordered that they would build a tower or keep close to the Godswood as so to mark it for times of future prayer. He wanted thought to make his second son into a masterly or knightly house of the soon to be built keep sworn to the eldest son of course.

 _The Knight of the Laughing Tree_ he thought, that was a good title and any man would be proud of such title. He would make it a powerful seat worthy one with the blood of a Stark. He would name his third son and any sons he would have would be they trueborn or no. He already had quite a few numbers of minor houses sworn to him and was quick in becoming a very powerful lord. Most of them were landed knights who he had seen fit to reward with keeps, as a reward for their longstanding friendships and loyalty to him. Their keeps hadn't even been started yet as his own wasn't finished and he allowed them and their families to take residence within his own nearly finished hall.

If Winterfell was the heart of the north, then the Moat was its sword and shield. Outer Moatsville was the larger town and was closest to the actual moat. It was poorer and held a larger number of people; it offered items and services of less quality of than those with Inner Moatsville. The buildings within were mostly made of wood and quite a few of them were rather substandard and would have become a northern mirror of the Flea's Bottom of King's Landing but Benjen had provided them with proper sewer systems from his coin that poured the outflow into the Bite away from any wildlife or man-made settlements.

Inner Moatsville was of a vastly better quality town with buildings of stone, most of its occupants were skilled tradesmen, merchants and the like. Benjen had offered to have their homes built from his own deep pockets on the condition that they would have a hand in building his castle and those of his vassals.

He had gotten quite well with both towns, as they would just supply him with levies for his armies but also servants for his castle. He had employed good number of men, women and young boys to serve as guards, maids and messengers from the Outer Moatsville and from the Inner Moatsville, he had employed the more educated people to serve as more complex jobs. All the servants were paid a fair wage, and given a communal keep for their accommodations with plentiful spacious chambers that had a fireplace for the cold winters, given a standard uniform and properly equipped with the tools the needed to do their jobs to the maximum efficiency.

These simple acts won him much favour with his smallfolk as they saw him not as an uncaring cruel master who oppressed them but instead as a kind and caring leader who only acted in the best interests of his people. And he was glad about it as the more his people loved him the less trouble they'd give him.

The workers of that had been renovating the castle had done a wonderful job in three short years. They had rebuilt the Great Keep which were Benjen, his family and all the families of his soon to be vassals. It was at the very centre of the entire complex, everything else orbited around it. The glass gardens, the stables, kennels, non-laughing Godswood, all of it orbited around the Great Keep. The keep that he was more than a little proud of, he would never allow his sigil of a black hand encircled by runes of the First Men upon a field pale green to never stop flying high.

The Great Keep was the stronghold of the castle, it was so impregnable that Benjen once boasted that he could lose both towns, all the walls and towers upon them, have an impossibly sized army of Others besieging him daily with only a handful of guards on his side and yet simply ignore the attackers for at least a decade.

The reason behind this host was that simple; the thickness of the walls on his stronghold was greater than his waist, and in the centre of the keep was a well that could deliver fresh water to the defenders. The well was nearly finished, despite being one of the earlier constructions in the castle. They had finished converting the many underground caverns into usable cisterns, granaries and coffers these caverns were only accessible from the Great Keep and none other. He had already beginning to fill up some the storages, especially the coffers.

Benjen had only been lord of the Moat for two years and already was very much on his way of becoming a great deal more powerful and richer than the majority of the lords of Westeros. He imagined the great times that awaited him and his family; he adopted a smile with a faraway look in his eyes. "Lord Greenstark? Are we boring you?" Benjen snapped out of his daydream and did his best to assume a regal pose worthy of a Stark as quick as he could. No one was fooled.

Lord Torrhen Manderly looked unimpressed but held a glint of mirth in his eye; the flaxen-haired man was blue-eyed and was every bit was fat as he was intelligent. The portly man wore his house colours, with a bold black trident on a field of sea-green. The edge is his clothes outlined in white. He knew that any Stark would have an ally in the Manderlys and gave a smile to the merman.

"I think you're just boring him with endless droning Tor, let the poor lad rest his poor ears." Was Lord Robyn Ryswell jovial reply; the man was old, pushing his forties this was made more than evident with his bald head and greying beard worthy of any Northern lord. He wore high quality riding clothes with his house sigil proudly embellished on his chest.

That's not to say that his age made him a lesser warrior or lord, as the man could still fight with the best of them and the Rills was in age of growth and prosperity that it hadn't seen before with the recently built Rysport. Which Benjen didn't know much about the town as he should have, he could probably guess like most places in the north that it was doing well.

The final lord that made this boring meeting was quiet and offered no words he merely looked at Benjen in annoyance, waited for the meeting to return to whatever they were talking about. Lord Cedric Dustin of the Barrowlands was dour person, never smiling or laughing. He was older than Benjen if not physically then also mentally; the man acted twice his age and was as lively as graveyard.

He apparently held some distaste of House Stark and all its cadet branches after the death of his father in the south and had railed against every edict and reform that had come out of Winterfell since the Dance but he couldn't do much alone other than hold his tongue.

Lord Ryswell spoke his voice was warm and grandfatherly; "Just to remind everyone who was unaware," Benjen needed no help to understand that comment was pointed towards him, he had the decency blushed lightly in embarrassment. "We are here to plan the construction of a set of canals that will join the Saltspear and the Bite to Moat Cailin. This will create a direct route from the Narrow Sea to the Sunset Sea, making trade with our friends in Essos even easier and more profitable"

 _Gods above,_ how powerful could one man get in such a short time? That was a riddle that Benjen could not know the answer to. Benjen could control the flow of trade to half of Westeros, he could block control of the trade and weaken the strength of the lands that border the Sunset Sea. The youngest lord spoke "Although I am grateful for such power to places upon me I don't understand why all the lords here are needed." Dustin looked me, his intent impossible to read as he was always melancholy. "What do you imply Stark?" he spat the word Stark as if it was bitter curse on his tongue.

' _If the taste of the word is so terrible upon his tongue, then perhaps the problem is with the tongue, and perhaps it would better removed'_ Benjen thought darkly. The Lords of the Barrowlands and Moat Cailin exchanged glares at one another. Greenstark or Bluestark, a Stark was still a Stark. Benjen was about to unleash a volley of insults, that would have caused instantaneous war between their houses in one fell swoop.

Before such a thing could happen Lord Manderly cleared his throat loudly, then stopped after he realised what he was doing and then adopted an apologetic look "Oh my apologies, I've had this nasty cough for the last moon or so it been just terrible." Strangely enough, the lord didn't sound in any way apologetic if anything he sounded as if he had won a great victory. Lord Ryswell shot meaningful look to the merman, and continued his spiel "The lord here are all necessary and are the ones that will be most affected by the canals."

He motioned to himself "I represent the Rills; my house, the houses sworn to me and my people". He looked at Lord Dustin "Lord Cedric represents the same but for the Barrowlands. He looked intently at Benjen "Lord Greenstark represents the same for the Neck including the Reeds and Flints, as well support from Winterfell." Benjen furrowed his eyebrows in thought, he could potentially speak for Flints and Reeds as he had met both houses and their own vassals and they had formally acknowledged that he would more than likely be their liege within a decade. But for Winterfell? He couldn't say the same, surely a man as intelligent as Lord Ryswell would know this.

"Lord Manderly not only represents White Harbour but also Houses Woolsfield, Locke and Flints of Widow's Watch as well as their vassals". To be honest it wasn't surprising that the Manderlys held such political clout and yet it still astonished Benjen how powerful the Manderlys were despite being a relatively young house in comparison to the majority of the northern lords.

"Lord Greenstark to ensure that we gain as much as possible from this canal, it would be best if you placed a vassal at each point where the canals would meet the seas." He placed markers on the map, one castle symbol on the mouth of the Fever River. The position of the castle almost made Benjen laugh, as it was the point where had wanted to build a castle for his second son; Howland. He placed a second marker on at the coast of the Bite, presumably where the second canal would be constructed.

"To ensure that we have mutual control and to cement our alliance, it would be best that whoever gets these positions would have to marry from our houses. If a lord was given the eastern castle then they would marry into the Manderlys, if they were the western castle then they would marry either a Dustin or Ryswell." Lords Ryswell and Manderly kept sharing looks between one another to Benjen's confusion then it hit him like thunder and he then realised the reason behind the visit.

' _They knew I would give these positions to my sons, and would seek to tie the success of my house to theirs.'_ Despite his disgust, Benjen nodded his consent to Lord Ryswell as he didn't trust himself to insult the smug lord who smiled widely, knowing his victory.

He would have commended on how despicable they were if he could get the anger out from him. It was an unfortunate side-effect of the mass growth the north was undertaking, older houses were on the way out would tie themselves to as many younger up and coming houses as they could and feed of them like leeches.

Younger houses didn't see as anything major as they would feel honored that such an old house would find them 'worthy'. Benjen had expected such behavior from a lesser house perhaps a masterly or knightly house not the damned Manderlys who were arguably the third most powerful in the north, and would only grow in time. Benjen complained "The builders that were given to me are too few to finish my castle and to construct the canal." Lord Manderly replied "Bah. I can hire more from Essos for you, don't worry about that lad."

He kept the grumblings he had to himself, growled "Apart from the canal, is there any other major issues that need to come to our attention?" The reply from the chipper Ryswell "Aye lad, I was ordered to go south and converse with some of the river and reach lord who have the most fertile lands in Westeros and to see if they could offer us any crop seeds that could last longer in the north."

At this Lords Manderly and Dustin perked up in attention, Dustin asked him the question that was on everyone's mind "So what did you find?" The horse lord smiled "The Tyrells gave me some crop seeds that they believed would fare better in the cold, as did the castellan of Harrenhal, the Hightowers and the Tullys." "Which one's the best, Rob?" Lord Manderly asked.

The horse lord simply shrugged "I haven't the foggiest, so I thought as a little test we could each take a type of grain, sow it in our fields and whoever has the highest crop yield wins and we send those seeds to Winterfell so they can share them with the rest of the north." Benjen thought the plan ridiculous "Why not just send all three to Winterfell and mix the seeds?"

The other lords stared him as if had proclaimed himself the King Who Bore The Sword. "You know nothing about agriculture do you?" Once again Benjen was shown up as a boob and in front of his peers as well, this day certainly had its ups and downs. He apologised swiftly and swore to not to say one more word in this meeting. "So I shall use the Tully seed, Tor you use the Hightower seed, Dustin you use the Tyrell seed and Greenstark you use the Harrenhal seed."

 **AN**

 **To the person who said that Bolton has more men than Stark and that the city could raise more men alone. Firstly Bolton has fewer men it's just that Bolton doesn't have any masterly or knightly houses sworn to him. And they are both are weakness and a strength, as they can improve the land they've been given or can rebel and try to usurp their superiors. House Stark has several; Cerwyns, Glovers and Tallharts they are principal houses sworn to House Stark. So imagine if the Starks weren't Lord Paramounts, the Cerwyns, Glovers and Tallharts would still be sworn to them.**

 **House Stark could remove those houses completely and still have the land and the people upon said land would still be sworn to them just more directly. I put House Lyeton so as to be able to used by the Starks to control the Bolton's from within. House Stark can rally 15000 and the Boltons 10000, I don't know the exact land placements as they don't make it clear in canon so forgive me if I get them wrong.**

 **Cregan fears them because he isn't an idiot, he's allowed such things as an irrational fears and this is one of them. He knows that the Bolton's have blood ties to him and that may allay some of his fears but that doesn't mean much as Ramsay killed his brother Domeric and Roose rewarded Ramsay with lands and a title so I'm not sure how that gonna work out.**

 **Also you can't empty the Wintercity of men, well you can do that but it's out of canon. It's also unsustainable as you'd have to pay for the men for the weapons/armour/food and supply so it's nonsensical. Also you'd be removing a city of all the working men. That's a dead city, you need working men for services, I'm not saying women couldn't fill the roles. They could in a modern city with equal rights, but in a male-dominated medieval environment where men do all the practical jobs? They don't have knowledge or experience or skills, and they'd be laughed at for even bringing up the idea, destroying any morale.**

 **If it was so easy to empty a city of men why didn't the Targaryens or Lannisters do it? Even if only one in every five people in King's Landing is able to fight that's still a hundred thousand people. They would have won Robert's Rebellion and the War of the Five Kings respectively through sheer numbers. I'm sure it's a good idea on paper but in practise it's just not doable.**

 **Aegon is not a well-liked King at all and for all intents it's his brother Viserys that's main power behind the Iron Throne. He's the one that meets the lords, the one that has ties outside of Westeros; he's practically Renly with the skills of Stannis. A likeable face and personality, but actually knows what needs to be done so as to rule.**

 **Viserys obviously would like to hold onto the throne and so while it would be Aegon calling the banners it would be Viserys commanding, fighting, convincing people to bend the knee etc. He could make marry his kids tho other powerful families to get them allies.**

 **As for the strength of the south, I believe it's better to overestimate an enemy and wipe them out completely than underestimate them and entertain the chance of defeat. The Stormlords and Reachlords jumped for joy when the Young Dragon declared war against Dorne and many of those lords sided with the Black Dragon against Baelor the Blessed and Daeron the Good when they tried to make peace. I could imagine the Valelords, Riverlords and perhaps the Westerlords doing the same against the north.**

 **A problem presented to me was the premise; Aegon wouldn't allow Cregan to just help himself to the coffers. At that point Aegon is an eleven year old boy who watched his mother get eaten by his uncle's pet dragon. Who believed he lost his brother to a painful death via drowning, lost his father and pretty much everyone in his family to the war for him and his mother bar like three. On top of all the other thousands of people who died in the war, the orphans, the slaves taken by the ironborn the ruined families. He also flew to King's Landing on the neck of a dying dragon while in the middle of a terrible thunderstorm.**

 **Everyone gives a guy a unfair judgement, it's a miracle he doesn't curl into a ball and cry every time he sees or hears anything to do with dragons or Targaryens. No, but really he should be suffering from depression and a guilt complex larger than the north at least. So at the very least while he's mourning for his family, when someone (Cregan) he trusted to deal with the affairs of ruling a country asks him for to get paid. I'm sure he didn't expect to get stolen from.**

 **Another thing is that the LPs come to Winterfell, I'm sorry that seems kind of expectant as not only is the King bringing forward a new position that changes the political landscape giving all the Lord Paramounts a voice on the Small Council for the first time. I think that's good enough reason bring all the LPs.**

 **The conflicts are just power struggles between neighbours, to competing for the best trade deals, for the marriages etc. It's nothing that could threaten a war yet, although as he north gets more powerful and after the canal gets built and trade deals become more lucrative. Some houses begin to depend heavily on trade rather than taxes.**

 **Northern expansion is quick because they're importing workers from the free cities to do their labour, not slaves although there could be an argument to use slaves as a source of cheap labour to build their castles and dig in their mines.**

 **Thanks for reading, reviewing, favouriting and following.**


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